Eric Dane spoke candidly about living with ALS during what would become his last public appearance.
The actor died on February 19 at the age of 53, around 10 months after he publicly confirmed he had been diagnosed with the condition.
In his final public appearance, Dane joined an online panel alongside I AM ALS and Synapticure co-founders Brian Wallach and Sandra Abrevaya, where he described life with ALS as being “so horrible”.
ALS is short for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a condition also historically referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
It affects the nervous system and gradually damages nerve cells in the brain and spinal chord, leading to worsening muscle weakness and a loss of control.
As symptoms progress, many patients require increasing levels of assistance and mobility support in day-to-day life.
There is currently no cure, and the disease is terminal.
Discussing the realities of his diagnosis, Dane said: “I have no reason to be in a good spirit at any time, on any given day, I don’t think anybody would blame me if I went upstairs in my bedroom, crawled under the sheets, and spent the next two weeks crying.”
He continued: “And I was a little bit pleasantly surprised when I realized that I wasn’t built like that, because I thought for sure that was gonna be me.”
After sharing his diagnosis publicly, Dane focused on increasing awareness and encouraging others to learn more about the disease, saying: “I think it’s imperative that I share my journey with as many people as I can because I don’t feel like my life is about me anymore.”
He added: “I make sure that people are aware of what ALS is and what it’s about, and more importantly, what we can do to combat it and improve the landscape, because it’s so rocky and littered with hurdles and bureaucracy and all this other nonsense that we’re trying to sift through so we can get to a place where we go, start working on a solution.”
Dane was widely recognized for portraying Dr Mark Sloan in Grey’s Anatomy, and also appeared in Euphoria.
His family confirmed his death in a statement, which read: “With heavy hearts, we share that Eric Dane passed on Thursday afternoon following a courageous battle with ALS.
“He spent his final days surrounded by dear friends, his devoted wife, and his two beautiful daughters, Billie and Georgia, who were the center of his world.”